Fox Run Tavern

Out in the Town of Seymour, on the way to Tower Ridge is a cute little bar. I drove by it last winter when I went snowshoeing out there, and decided to come back in better weather.

It is clearly a neighborhood bar. There was a crowd of regulars who were quite convivial and all seemed to know each other. It was a fairly homogeneous crowd, age-wise [Eau Claire is by definition homogeneous racially!]. Mostly 40+, and mostly couples.

The Long Islands were good, and reasonably priced. Only three tap beers, and the Leinie’s was the original (Red), not my favorite, Honey Weiss.

There is a great deck part of which is covered and part is not. It overlooks a softball field for the bar, plus horseshoe courts. There were signs up about a Tavern Horseshoe League. It is also clear that they do catering and events there. It would be a nice location for a party, or an informal wedding reception.

I’ll probably go back.

Wecome Matt

On Route 37, on the way out of town to Mondovi, it the Welcome Matt. (I assume that the two “T” has to do with the name of the owner.

It is clearly a Packers hang out, and the amount of promotional material is almost overwhelming. (In general people here go way overboard with the Packers. My brother the Packers fan, has a couple of items, a shirt, and the souvenir single share of stock hanging on the wall. It is tasteful.) Other than the Packers stuff, the inside is quite nice. There are very large beer glass-fronted coolers, into which the bartender regularly reached.

They have a couple of draft beers (Leine’s Red, but not Honey Weiss), and the drinks are reasonably priced.

Bars not receiving a second review – Part Two

The following are not receiving a separate repost for reasons noted under each:

• Jericho’s (Day’s Inn)
  [Closed, the roads in the area are being re-configured, the hotel restaurant are is being remodeled, and the bar is closed.]
• Boston’s (pizza restaurant on Hastings Way)
  [It is a chain, it is loud, and it is mostly a "sports bar."]
• Green Mill (Holiday Inn)
  [It is a chain.]

Five O’Clock Club and Whiskey Dick’s revisited

Last Friday was warm. My drinking buddy and I wanted to sit outside and drink. Where could we go?

We started at the Five O’Clock Club. Since our initial visit this winter, they built a patio on the side. It has high stone walls with a couple of iron gates. They did not have table service outside, so we bought our drinks at the bar, and headed out to sit in solitude for most of our drink. It was nice and enjoyable, but at one point, someone turned on the music which made it a little harder to talk. As we got ready to leave, a larger group 6 or 7, took over several tables in the corner. It remains a small, cozy bar with average Long Island Iced Teas.

Our second stop was around the corner at Whiskey Dick’s. We also sat outside at the Tiki Bar. The bar is bamboo, and only parts of it have plexi-glass to make a smooth, wobble-free surface. It was still early, and there was a small crowd inside and out. (We clearly missed the fights featured on the other Eau Claire bar blog.)

Jersey’s (a new bar)

Just when you think you are done, someone spoils your fun! There are now two new bars in town. Jersey’s is a clean, brightly lit, sports bar located across the parking lot from Famous Dave’s. I went out with a group, several of whom live in that part of town and a couple of whom live in my part of town.

The Long Island was good, and $4.50 (after a trip to a large US city, it was nice to get back to reasonable prices). They have Leine’s and lots of other beers. The waitress did a pretty good job with the after work crowd, and only screwed up once on the last round when she charged us more than she should have.

It is a real sports bar with lots of monitors (one wall has four!). It had a diversity of ages in the crowd, and it was a non-smoking bar!

Sweetwater’s and Grizzly’s

Had a mid-week adventure, and went for a “pre-event” drink on Wednesday night. Sweetwater’s has a very nice sitting area, with a sofa and chairs around a coffee table, and a gas fireplace. There is also the nice bar area. It must have been because we were so early that it took a bit to get the bartender’s attention. Drinks were acceptable, and reasonably priced.

After the “event” we wandered over to Grizzly’s. It is a chain, but has a bar which clearly had regulars. The drinks were larger than Sweetwater’s, and the same price. One of the down-sides of having the regulars there, was the smoking.

It is funny when you visit many places how much you notice differences like the fact that in the Twin Cities all eating and drinking establishments are non-smoking. While restaurants in Eau Claire are non-smoking, bars are not.